Broken Sword: Directors Cut Heads To The Wii

[Hero-of-Time]

Point and Click fans get ready for another great game headed your way. All the details and pics are nicked from Neogaf.

http://i39.tinypic.com/bg6984.jpg
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Facts:
- based on the original Broken Sword, possibly the best adventure game ever created
- lots of new content, new puzzles, new locations, expanded story
- controls obviously redone for DS and Wii
- some new animations by Dave Gibbons (Watchmen)
- developed by Revolution, published by Ubisoft
- game's pretty much gone gold, coming to Europe in March 2009

[darksnowman]

Top stuff.

I was actually looking at the release list you posted in the other stickied thread at lunch time, and I spotted Broken Sword on it. I wondered where the info on it was seeing as its down for March... and lo and behold, the info has started to emerge. :hehe:

[Retro_Link]

Never played a Broken Sword game. Not really played point and clicks in general! Think I've watched someone play one of the Monkey Islands, and definately remember working on an Indiana Jones point and click with a friend way back in the day!
Will keep an eye on this one!

[Tellyn]

Never played a Broken Sword game. Not really played point and clicks in general! Think I've watched someone play one of the Monkey Islands, and definately remember working on an Indiana Jones point and click with a friend way back in the day!
Will keep an eye on this one!

Dude, you need to get yourself Sam & Max Season 1 for the Wii (episode 4 on the PC can be obtained for free from Telltale's website or Steam) and Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People (demos on the Telltale site).

[Jamba]

Wow, impressive. Bet people don't hate Ubi so much now eh?

[jammy2211]

Broken Sword is nowhere near as good as Monkey Island.

But yeah, still cool to get the point and click genre back. Think I'll miss this one as I've already completed this one, and I can't really buy it again for a few new puzzles and whatnot.

Still, it's a good addition.

[chrizkerr2]

Only found out about this last night, was pretty shocked and happy!

Its coming out for both Wii and DS (Gunna pick up the Wii one myself, as I doubt the DS will have voiceovers)

More screens here http://www.revolution.co.uk/_forum.php?topic=5349&message=63329&neuron=1&page=0

Can't wait for it <3

[Retro_Link]

More screens here http://www.revolution.co.uk/_forum.php?topic=5349&message=63329&neuron=1&page=0Cheers!

Broken Sword Get!

[pedrocasilva]

Whenever I see this thread my eyes snap to the "cut heads" part.

Am I a sicko?

[Maase]

Pedrocasilva, exactly the same to me.
Its not that hard to see in a Broken Sword game, though.
It was damn scary for a non-horror game for its time.

[Retro_Link]

IGN Full Interview:

http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/949/949584p1.html

Just the gameplay info...

IGN UK: How has Revolution exploited both the Wii and DS's unique features in Broken Sword? What new elements have these enabled you to include in the game?
Charles Cecil: The 'Director's Cut' has been considerably enhanced to include new content, graphics displayed at a higher resolution, animated faces in conversations, a hint system, two player mode on Wii, and many other additional features.

We start the game a day earlier than the original, told from Nico's perspective. This adds a considerable amount of gameplay over and above the original – lots of new screens. That gives us the opportunity to explain a bit of background that was not clear first time around. Nico's story then, obviously, juxtaposes with George's. However, our rule in designing the new content was that everything from the first was the absolute truth – nothing in the new content could contradict or change it. So we have added a new subplot for Nico which resonates throughout the game – juxtaposed seamlessly with the original George gameplay. I won't give anything away, but I was very pleased when our casual testers indicated that they were very surprised that the story had been added to – they had no idea where the joins took place. Hopefully people will feel that it works well!

We have also added a facial animation system, which I'll elaborate on later, plus a number of first person views for when your character is examining a small area. Sometimes the interface reflects that of the main game, sometimes it offers a mini-game. This makes the game feel very dynamic.

A diary has also been added so that players can recap on the story so far and we've taken the opportunity to tweak puzzles that maybe could have been better designed first time around too – for those familiar with the original, the diary entry for Lochmarne Castle reads "So the 'ghost of Locahmarne' is no more than a fierce Billy goat. For a moment I thought it was going to be incredibly awkward to get past, but in the end it was surprisingly simple. Who would have known?". Should I take this opportunity to apologise again for the infamous goat puzzle while assuring all that it's now more logical in its execution? Another interesting thing about the new diary is that even those of us who've played the game through many many times during testing tend to click on the diary each time a new entry is added. It seems to work pretty well, so I'm pleased about that.

I have long been concerned that while some people love the cerebral challenge of a tricky puzzle, others get frustrated. Having to look the answer up online is thoroughly unsatisfactory, so we've added a dynamic hint system – which players are invited to turn off it they don't want it. For those that do, a question mark discretely flashes when the game thinks the player is getting stuck. This offers a vague hint. If, after a certain time, the puzzle has still not been solved, then a further clue is offered until finally the solution is given. The only downside to asking for clues is that the number is tallied and is displayed with your save game. Again, this feature was greatly appreciated by the casual testers – it gives the opportunity to play through fast, almost like an interactive movie, or at a slower, more thoughtful rate.

On Wii, we've gone back to the source art material and now display colours in 16-bit rather than the 200 colours of the original, plus we've added alpha layers, redrawn the icons and so on. Graphically, the game is now much richer.

The Wii version's control system uses the pointer to highlight hotspots, in a way that is not dissimilar to the 'point and click' system, although we use rumble and, where appropriate, motion control for turning objects. Meanwhile, the DS version is totally stylus driven. After a lot of experimentation, we settled on a control system which has the player sliding the stylus over the screen to find and highlight hotspots then selecting the specific action by lifting. It works really well. The upper screen is used to display facial expressions when character engage in conversation – or talk to themselves.

IGN UK: With new sequences and story elements this time around, how hard has it been to integrate the new elements alongside those of the original? For instance, do you have the original cast back on board?

Charles Cecil: I wanted to keep the original voices wherever possible so that the game felt authentic. We were lucky enough to be able to hunt down the original George and Nico actors – and they recorded the new dialogue to sound like the old. So there is a feeling of continuity between the games. One other character has additional dialogue, so we simply re-recorded all their script. The remaining characters are new.

IGN UK: If this latest outing for Broken Sword is a success, how likely is it that we'll see Director's Cuts for the series sequels? Do you already have ideas floating around for expanded sequels?

Charles Cecil: The answer is yes to thoughts of potentially doing more Director's Cuts but, frankly, I haven't thought too hard about how they would be approached. When you write a game, there are so many elements that need to be balanced – and it is very easy to misjudge some of those elements. It's such a pleasure and a privilege to be able to re-visit the first Broken Sword game. It would be great to do the same with the others.

But that's not to say that this is the future in its totality for the next few years. We are always thinking of new projects – and that is not to forget the approach from the movies studio to make a Broken Sword film which we are taking very seriously.Sounds really good!!

http://wiimedia.ign.com/wii/image/article/949/949612/broken-sword-the-shadow-of-the-templar-directors-cut-20090130101545868_640w.jpg
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http://wiimedia.ign.com/wii/image/article/949/949612/broken-sword-the-shadow-of-the-templar-directors-cut-20090130101538493_640w.jpg

Having never played the series; this is possibly my most anticipated Wii game!

[Shino]

Having never played the series; this is possibly my most anticipated Wii game!

Really?! I never played many point and click games, but this still looks pretty average too me.

[Retro_Link]

Really?! I never played many point and click games, but this still looks pretty average too me.It's certainly right up there, along with Another Code [another point and click puzzle adventure], HotD: Overkill, Sin & Punishment 2 and Mad World.

Other choices such as The Conduit, FFCC: CB aren't really doing it for me atm!

Had such a blast with Zack & Wiki, and I love a good adventure story, so this seems perfect to me!

[Teppo Holmqvist]

Really?! I never played many point and click games, but this still looks pretty average too me.

It is one of the better point n' click games around, and modern classic of the genre. It is also very long (25-35 hours) for this type of game. There is, however, two things I'm worried about this port. First is the animation. Original had rather simple (and shitty) animation, and its flaws are only emphasized by higher resolution. If they aren't willing to spent time to adjust frames, game will be very awkard looking in some parts (just look the grandma in the second picture that Retro_Link posted).

Then there is voiceacting. Yeah, most fans says that the original had outstanding voice-acting, but to be fair, it is ***king terrible. It lacks emotion, and every character outside Stobbard has this over-exegrated accent that sounds really stupid. Do joo want some waterrr fith thaat?

[pedrocasilva]

^ Tepppppppo! good to see you back!

Also:

Finally, now that Revolution has re-teamed with Dave Gibbons, how about that Beneath a Steel Sky sequel? Isn't it about time?

Charles Cecil: It is time – and lots of people ask the same question. A few years ago we released the original for free to be played using the Scumm VM emulator. Our thinking behind this was that no one could play the game without Scumm VM – and Scumm VM was free, so it only seemed fair to give it away. This was, in hindsight, a brilliant marketing initiative (I wish I could claim that we were strategic enough to have seen this at the time) because literally millions of people have played it in the past couple of years. And many of them have joined the clamour for a sequel. This Broken Sword Director's Cut will go a long way to proving the potential market for this type of adventure – if it is successful then we will certainly explore opportunities for a BASS sequel.

BENEATH A STEEL SKY 2!!!!!!!!! WANT!

[Mundi]

I hope this looks better in motion because it looks incredibly average from the screens.

Also Gabriel Knight > Broken sword.

[James McGeachie]

It's remade locales based closely on an old PC/PS1 game, it's not going to look stunning but the character animation should improve things in motion.

The original is probably my personal favourite point and click adventure due to the quality of the humour and George Stobbart's legendary voice actor (who thankfully they've confirmed to have back for this game).

If they re-record almost every other charater's dialogue with new va's I just hope they can come close to being as good as the original lines. There's plenty of classic moments and locales in the game. I remember loving the Ireland section in particular.

[Retro_Link]

Gameplay [off-screen]:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/45349.html

[Columnar]

Really looking forward to this. Used to have it on PC but never got finished so definitely a day one purchase for me. Has there been an official release date announced?

[pedrocasilva]

Gameplay [off-screen]:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/45349.htmlLooks great, better than I envisioned.

[Retro_Link]

Has there been an official release date announced?Yep, Europe should be geting it 27/03/09.

[Tellyn]

Charles Cecil of Revolution Software comments on the possibility of more Broken Sword goodness on Wii and DS, including 2D versions of 3 and 4.

Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars - Director's Cut for Wii and DS isn't even out yet, but Charles Cecil, the founder of Revolution Software, says that if the game is successful, they'll probably make even more Broken Sword games, and are even considering remaking the third and fourth games in 2D. Given that those two games were originally in 3D, Cecil commented that "it would be a case of reinterpreting them, probably taking more liberties than we did with the first one."

The success of The Shadow of the Templars might not only pave the way for director's cut versions of the four Broken Sword games, but also new entries in the series, new games and even a new Beneath a Steel Sky, which is looking very likely.

There you have it. If you're a Broken Sword fan and want more, you know what to do! Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars - Director's Cut for Wii and DS are coming out in Europe on March 1st and March 24th in Europe and the US respectively.



http://www.n-europe.com/news.php?nid=12924

[Shino]

I always get excited by the title but as soon as I come in the thread and see the images, "oh, that one...".

[Retro_Link]

Trailer:

object_ID=14306742&downloadURL=http://wiimovies.ign.com/wii/video/article/963/963516/brokensword_trl_031709_flvlow.flv

[flameboy]

A new Beneath a Steel Sky that would awesome...for only who doesn't know you get it from gog.com for FREE...tons of great games on there, I just re-bought Simon the Sorceror and am playing through it for something like the 30th time...love the game such a good sense of humour and Chris Barrie's voice work on the "newer" versions (first owned it on the Amiga) is great.

[jimbob81]

Yep, Europe should be geting it 27/03/09.

It came out today, this is great news. Broken sword is one of my all time favourite games, hopefully this version will add to the original!

[Retro_Link]

It came out today,Hmm that's wierd, was in GAME earlier and don't remember seeing it?!

[Darkspine S]

It was on the bottom shelf at my GAME, I picked it up along with Madworld. :grin:
Didn't most news stories say that the game was Budget-priced? Because it sure as hell wasn't when I got it. Still, I'm a huge Broken Sword fan, so all's fair and all that. :p

When you get past that rotating cylinder puzzle to open the door, and you then use the cylinder to prop up the cross to open the slab to the right, is there a game-breaking glitch whereas you can't re-insert the cylinder into the gap later if you've dabbed it in paint? Just a yes or no please, I want to solve the puzzle myself, but if there is a glitch I don't want to waste my time trying. ::shrug:

[Retro_Link]

They NEED to advertise this game!

If it's not advertised then it's probably going to sell really badly, if it is advertised then everyone who loved Broken Sword back in the day will be made aware that it's been given a Wii remake and it will sell much better, and also old-school point-and-click fans will find that they have something to go out and buy!

I'll prob get it at some point, just not yet.

[pedrocasilva]

^ it's ubisoft publishing, don't count on it, they're egocentric morons.

[Fierce_LiNk]

Wait, this is actually out?

This is really infuriating now. No wonder so many games undersell if people do not realise that the games are there.

[jammy2211]

Why would anyone buy this when you can get the PC version for like £5?

It might have nicer graphics... and a few new levels maybe, but surely not £30's worth of extra content!?

[/ nando /]

darksnowman actually bought me a PC game containing The Shadow of the Templars and The Smoking Mirror for Christmas 2007 as I pointed it out in GAME one day for the fine price of £1.97 new :heh:

I haven't got far yet.. I generally don't enjoy gaming on the PC (but I make an exception for these games :yay:) but they seem great : peace:

[Darkspine S]

Just finished The Director's Cut, and I've gotta say, for a Broken Sword fan, that pricetag is far far too high. The extra content with Nico is alright, although it lacks enough NPC interaction, probably one of BK's strongest traits.
For someone completely new to the series, it'll last you quite a while, and there is a lot to do. There is a clear sound and visual quality separation between old and new that anyone would notice, but they work alright in tandem, and provide a strong logical challenge.

As far as the motion control goes, for some of the redesigned puzzles, it's too fiddly and glitchy, although the pointer works flawlessly, and makes me want to see more Text Adventures on Wii.

I'd recommend giving this game a go to everyone, although only secondhand, or after a price drop.

Edit; Turns out that question I asked above is a full bona-fide game-ending glitch, so to anyone playing Director's Cut, don't get Paint on the Cylinder after you've used it to open the door.

[Hero-of-Time]

It was supposed to be a budget game, it even had the preorder price of £17.99 but 1 week before release the price changed to £29.99.

[Owen]

Is this as good or better on the DS you reckon? I wanted a few new DS games to play on my DSi, so far i have GTA, Henry Hatsworth and Big Bang Mini still wrapped for launch day! I have a feeling this will be much cheaper in a month or so...

[Hero-of-Time]

Man the wiimote is annoying to use in this game. For the standard stuff its all fine and dandy but why they have put stupid mini game type puzzles using the montion controls is a mystery to me ::shrug:

I have spent a good 20mins trying to unlock a door, you have to twist the wiimote as if you were unlocking a safe but the freaking thing is so twitchy I keep knacking the thing up! Ive turned it off now as I was getting very frustrated with it.

[david.dakota]

you have to twist the wiimote as if you were unlocking a safe but the freaking thing is so twitchy I keep knacking the thing up!

Its probably been designed for Ubisofts usual player- so just try shaking the Remote like you're throttling a chicken.

[Hero-of-Time]

Im about 53% of the way through the game now and here's what I think so far.

Having played Sam & Max on the Wii Broken Sword offers a much better experience IMO. The game runs very smoothly with no framerate hiccups, unlike Sam and Max, and even though its a realistic game the humour is very much still there. There have been a few times where I have LOLed at George as he offers witty comments and comebacks.

In terms of the puzzles they make you think but when you do figure them out it makes perfect sense. Again in Sam and Max alot of the time you have to think out of the box and sometimes it doesnt really make sense but in Broken Sword everything does.

There are a couple of complaints that I have. One is as I said in an earlier post about the added mini games using the wiimote as they make for a very frustrating time as the controls are just far too twitchy. If playing this on the DS it would probably take a second or two but using the wiimote is a nightmare. Luckly I have only come across 2 of these puzzles/mini games and being just over halfway through the game im hoping there wont be many more.

The second thing is the quality of some of the audio. The music is all fine but when it comes to some of the speech it tends to be a little off. The best way I can describe it is as if the the voices had been recorded on a tape and the quality has deteriorated over time. It doesnt really bother me at all as it is a port of a very old game but I thought I would mention it anyway and its not like it happens all the time.

I like a good point and click game and having never played Broken Sword before im very pleased with what I have seen so far and I certainly have no quarrels paying the full price for a great game. Like many great Wii games I fear the game will be a total flop on the especially as many will refuse to pay full price for an old game.

EDIT: All done :) Its just a shame that such a great game had such a shoddy ending. :(

[Ike]

How long does it take to complete the game?

[Hero-of-Time]

Took me about 7-8 hours.

[Haden]

Man the wiimote is annoying to use in this game. For the standard stuff its all fine and dandy but why they have put stupid mini game type puzzles using the montion controls is a mystery to me ::shrug:

I have spent a good 20mins trying to unlock a door, you have to twist the wiimote as if you were unlocking a safe but the freaking thing is so twitchy I keep knacking the thing up! Ive turned it off now as I was getting very frustrated with it.

Just bumping this thread as I got the game in January.

Really enjoying it so far cost me about 12 quid and I have never played it before so it is worth it to me.

Have to say the puzzle that I bolded is awful. It was a throw my wiimote out the window type moment. Really needed Mplus controls or to not do that puzzle at all. How it got through testing I've no idea, its not that its hard to do skill wise but its so glitchy. And breathe...

Love the game apart from that. I really dig the atmosphere and French accents. I am 25% of the way through after about 3 hours so am going along at quite a slow pace and loving it.

Recommend this game to anyone now as its cheap, especially if you like adventures. Much like the PW games I use this to unwind after work or just before I go to bed. Unless I get stuck at a darn wiimote puzzle! lol